Glove

ABSTRACT

A glove is provided having a hand portion and finger portions, where the hand portion is configured to cover the palm of a wearer&#39;s hand as well as at least a portion of the bases of the wearer&#39;s fingers and the finger portions are configured to extend from the hand portion of the glove and cover only a limited portion of the tips of the wearer&#39;s fingers.

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

This application relates to a glove. More particularly, this applicationrelates to a modified glove design for improved warmth and flexibilityin use.

Description of Related Art

In the area of glove design, there are literally thousands of differentshapes and sizes for gloves. As a general note, gloves typically referto the hand covering with individual coverings for each of the fingersindependent of one another. The most common alternative is a mittenwhich does not individually articulate each of the fingers, but rathercovers the fingers as a collective unit.

Gloves tend to provide the most dexterity to the wearer and thus areconsidered more favorable for general use. However, because of theincreased surface area exposed to the elements, gloves have a drawbackwith respect to their insulation, namely they tend not to work overprolonged periods of time. For example, although on a short outing inlow temperatures gloves usually are sufficient, on prolonged excursions,such as long hikes, hunting expeditions etc. . . . the fingers tend toget cold. The mitten option has much less surface area exposed to theelements and the fingers themselves remain in contact and help preservetheir heat. However, as explained above, mittens do not provide the userwith any finger dexterity.

In many cases, when a wearer is wearing gloves they sometimes pull theirfingers out of the finger holes into the palm portion of the glove towarm their fingers. Although this allows the wearer to warm theirfingers, it requires holding the fingers of the glove with the oppositehand usually removing one of the gloves to do this for both hands.

One option for correcting this situation is to provide gloves withimproved or enhanced finger insulation. However, this results in thickerfingers which decreases flexibility and dexterity, somewhat defeatingthe purpose of wearing a glove instead of a mitten in the first place.

Another option to overcome this drawback is to provide a hybrid mittenand glove. Many such mitten/glove hybrids exist typically as a partial(finger exposed) or full (fingers covered) glove with an operable mittenflap that can either be folded back against the back of the hand whennot in use, or folded over the fingers when in use. Although thisprovides the wearer with the flexibility to use their fingers whendesired while also providing mitten like finger warmth, the designssuffer from several drawbacks. One drawback is that to open and dose themitten flap, the wearer may have to clip or button the flap into itscovered and/or retracted position, in some cases with the other glovehand. Even if certain designs do not require using the opposing hand orotherwise exposing either hand during the conversion, when the mittenportion is in the folding mitten portion this adds bulk to the overalldesign, particularly when folded in the open position. This makes itdifficult for the wearer to place their hands in their pockets or tightlocations when wearing such gloves.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY

The present arrangement is directed to a glove that makes it easier toretract fingers into the palm portion, for enhanced warmth. The presentglove is likewise arranged so that the wearer's fingers can be placedback into the finger portions.

Thus a glove is provided with shortened finger portions and expandedpalm area resulting in less exposed surface area to the elements andincreased heat retention in the fingers. For example, in one embodiment,the finger regions of the glove may end between first and second knucklefrom fingertip thus providing the warmth of a mitten and the dexterityof a glove without using inconvenient and bulky finger flaps. Becausethe finger portions are shortened and the bottom knuckle joints of thefingers are not enclosed, the wearer has an increased ability to retracttheir fingers into the glove palm portion without holding the fingerportions of the glove with the opposing hand, allowing them to insertand remove their fingers from the finger portions at will.

As such, in accordance with one embodiment a glove is provided having ahand portion and finger portions, where the hand portion is configuredto cover the palm of a wearer's hand as well as at least a portion ofthe bases of the wearer's fingers and the finger portions are configuredto extend from the hand portion of the glove and cover only a limitedportion of the tips of the wearer's fingers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be understood through the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary glove, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is the exemplary glove of FIG. 1 with a wearer's hand showntherein, in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary glove, in accordance with another embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is an exemplary glove, in accordance with another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, a glove 10 is provided, havingfinger portions 12, a thumb 14, a palm portion 16 and a wrist portion18. In the illustrated embodiment, glove 10 has independent fingerportions for each of the four fingers, but it is contemplated thatcertain designs may have fewer finger portions 12, for example possiblycombining the pinky and ring fingers into a single finger portion 12.

It is contemplated that glove 10 can be made from any normal glovematerial including but not limited to, cotton or wool fabrics, fleece,leather, suede, polyester, high performance insulation material, rubber,etc. . . . and may include any type of lining as desired.

As more clearly shown n FIG. 2, with the underlying hand visible, eachof finger portions 12 join to an adjacent finger portion 12 at anintersection 30. However, such intersection 30 of glove 10 does not restin the webbing of the fingers of the wearer but instead extends acrossat an approximate mid region of the wearer's finger in the area of theintermediate phalange. As a result, glove 10 exhibits finger portions 12that do not cover the entire finger, with the proximal phalange coveredprimarily by an extended palm portion 16.

Because of the shortened finger portions 12 and extended palm region 16,a wearer may pull their fingers more easily out of finger portions 12 asthe shortened amount of material does not excessively cling to thefingers. The fingers can be then kept warm, similar to a mitten, in theexpanded palm portion.

In one exemplary embodiment finger portions 12, because they do notextend all the way down to the webbing of the fingers, coverapproximately 50% of the length of the fingers. In another exemplaryembodiment, finger portions 12 cover approximately 35%-65% of the lengthof the fingers. It is contemplated that the present glove arrangementmay be constructed with larger or smaller finger portions 12 dependingon the desired level of warmth. For example, an extreme cold model forglove 10 may have finger portions 12 have only approximately 35%coverage of the length of the fingers to minimize surface area exposedto cold and maximize the size of hand portion 16 for additional warmth.A mild weather model of glove 10 may have finger portions 12 that haveapproximately 65% coverage of the length of the fingers. In eitherarrangement finger portions 12 are still shorter than the underlyinglength of the wearer's fingers so that they can retract into the largerhand portion 16 for a mitten/warmth effect, while still having enoughfinger separation (in individual finger portions 12) to maintain some ofthe desired glove like finger dexterity.

In the design of glove 10, care is taken to ensure there is enoughflexibility in the stitching of palm 16, finger portions 12 andintersections 30 to make it easier for the wearer to retract theirfingers than would otherwise be possible in a basic glove.

It is understood that owing to the design, once a wearer's fingers areretracted within palm portion 16, they can just as easily re-inserttheir fingers into finger portions 12.

In another embodiment, FIGS. 3 and 4 show alternative versions of glove10. In FIG. 3, glove 10 retains the same finger portions 12 except thaton the index finger, there is a finger cut out 13 so that the indexfinger is exposed. Such an arrangement may be used for example forhunting to allow maximum dexterity to the wearer's trigger finger. Inthe other arrangement shown in FIG. 4, each of the four fingers has afinger cut out 13 for even more dexterity. In both cases, glove 10retains the feature of the enlarged hand portion and shortened fingerportions 12. Even on the finger or fingers that have finger cut outs 13instead of full finger portions 12 there is still some fabric to provideadditional warmth as best as possible when the fingers are extended forneeded dexterity.

It is contemplated that the above design may incorporate any normalglove features, including but not limited to increased palm room forhand warmers, increased room to accommodate rings in finger portions 12,touch screen conductivity, extended or decorative designs for wristportion 18,

1. A glove comprising: a hand portion; and finger portions, wherein saidhand portion is configured to cover the palm of a wearer's hand as wellas at least a portion of the bases of said wearer's fingers, and whereinsaid finger portions are configured to extend from the hand portion ofsaid glove and cover only a limited portion of the tips of said wearer'sfingers.
 2. The glove as claimed in claim 1, wherein said hand portionextends to first finger joint of said wearer's finger.
 3. The glove asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said finger portions extend back to coveronly the second first finger joint of said wearer's finger.
 4. The gloveas claimed in claim 1, wherein said finger portions extend to coversubstantially 50% of the length of said wearer's finger.
 5. The glove asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said finger portions extend to coversubstantially 35-65% of the length of said wearer's finger.
 6. The gloveas claimed in claim 1, wherein said finger portions extend to cover onlythe second first finger joint of said wearer's finger and furtherincludes a cutout to allow said wearer's finger tip to be exposed. 7.The glove as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of said finger portions ofsaid glove extend to cover only the second first finger joint of saidwearer's finger and further includes a cutout to allow said wearer'sfinger tip to be exposed.
 8. The glove as claimed in claim 1, whereinfabric used to make said glove is at least partially elastic to moreeasily allow said wearer to retract said fingers from said fingerportions into said hand portion.